Letter tray or basket or drawer.



' No. 761,655. PATENTE'DJUNE 7,1904.

F. M'. GARY & G. K. RIX.

LETTER TRAY 0R BASKET OR DRAWERJ APPLICATION rum) JAN. 21, 1903.

no MODEL. 7 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

T Ncmms PEYCRS co. Eran-mums" wAsnmuTom u. c.

No. 761,655. PATENT-ED JUNE'V, 1904,

- F. M. GARY & G. K. RIX.

LETTER TRAY 0R BASKET OR DRAWER. APPLICATION TILED JAN. 21,1903.

no 140mm. 2 SHEETS-SHEET z.

1n: uoqms Farms 00.. momu'rna, wmmoron. n. c.

FBANK M.

LETTEFi TRAY OR BASKET O R DRAWER.

Patented June 7, 1904;

PATENT OFFICE.

OARY,'OF LAFAYETTE, INDIANA, AND GEORGE K. RIX, OF

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 761,655, dated June '7, 1904.

Application filed January 21, 1903. Serial No. 140,043. (No model.)

To aldwhom it may concern:

- Be-it known that we, FRANK M. CARY, a resident of Lafayette, Tippecanoe county, Indiana, and GEORGE K. RIX, a resident of Ohicago, Cook county. Illinois, citizens of the letters or papers from a basket or tray of this character, owing to the fact that to accomp'lish such removal it was necessary to insert the hand downwardly between the sides of the tray or basket and the edges of the letters and to then with more-or less difficulty insert the fingers below the pile of letters or papers. This difficulty or inconvenience has been especially true of large and double-story baskets and those of such character as to makeit inconvenient to turn the tray or basket upside down.

Now with a view to overcoming the foregoing difliculties and objections to the ordinary form of letter tray or basket our invention contemplates a tray or basket constructed with a lift adapted to be either manually or automatically operated and whereby a stack or pile of letters in such atray or basket can be instantly elevated or thrown up from the bottom of the tray or basket, so as to permit the letters or papers to be readily grasped and removed. Normally the lift permits-the letters or papers to grasped when it is desired to remove the same from the tray or basket. The nature and ad- 1 our invention.

vantages of our invention will, however, hereinafter more fully appear. I

In the accompanying drawings,-Figure I is a plan of a wire letter-tray constructedwith an automatic lift embodying the principles of Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section on line 2 2 in Fig. 1. plan of a similar wire letter-tray. provided with a manually-operated lift embodying the 1 principles of our invention. Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal section on line i 4 in Fig. 3.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the basket or letter-tray A can be of any suitable known or approved character. Asillustrated, the said tray or, basket is constructed of wire and is of the form commonly known as a wire letter-tray. matic in characterthat is to say, it automatically lifts the letters or papers when released. It is therefore, preferably, composed of a plurality of parallel wires or rods 7), which are hinged at their rear ends-as,

for example, at Z)and which are joined at their forward ends so as to provide a handle b andalso a latching projection 6 The portions 6 are, preferably, of a springy character and bowed or curved to an extent to cause them to be under considerable spring tension when the lift is down and latched in the position shown in full lines in Fig. 2. In such position the'lift lies flatwise upon the bottom of the tray or basket and does not in any way interfere with the depositing of the letters or papers in the basket in the ordinary Way. At such time the lift is held down in its normal position by reason of the projection 6 having been pressed down and sprung into a position below the wirea of the basket. Now when it is desired to remove the letters or papers from the tray or basket it is only necessary to press the handle portion 6 inward slightly, so as to spring theprojection 5 out of engagement with the wire a, and the tension of the portions 6 will then cause the lift to automatically rise and carry the letters or papers upward to a point where their edges can be easily grasped by the hand. In Fig. 2 the dotted lines indicate the position of the lift after it has been released and allowed to Fig. 3 is a In these figures the lift Bis auto-.

rise from its normal position upon the bottom of the basket.

In Figs. 3 and t the basket or letter-tray C can be of the same form or construction as the one shown in Figs. 1 and 2. In these ligures, however, the lift D is of such character as to make it necessary to raise it manually when it is desired to remove the letters or papers from the basket. In other words, the lift Dis manually operated, whereas the lift B is of such character as to enable it to rise automatically after it has been released. The lift D may consist of a single piece of wire bent into the form of a staple. Its rear end portions can be hinged at (Z, and its forward portion can be provided With an outwardlybent portion d, adapted to serve as a handle for raising the lift from the floor or bottom of the basket.

Broadly considered, therefore, our invention contemplates a letter tray or basket provided With a lift for throwing the letters or papers up into a position where they can be readily grasped by the hand and removed from the basket, and, as explained, this lift may be either automatic or manual in character that is to say, it may be of such character as torise of itself after being released or, on the other hand, it may be of such nature as to make it necessary to raise or lift it by hand. Obviously the said lift may be constructed in various Ways, and for this reason we do not limit ourselves to any particular form or character.

It is evident that our invention is applicable to various kinds of receptacles adapted to contain or hold letters or other papers. In other words, a lift substantially as shown and described is applicable to various kinds of letter or paper receptacles.

What we claim as our invention is 1. An open-top receptacle adapted to hold letters, papers and the like, said receptacle consisting of wire strands Woven into basket form; and aspring-lift and a catch device for maintaining the lift under spring tension and in position to permit the letters, papers and thelike to be deposited in the receptacle in the usual manner, said lift when released being adapted to automatically raise the letters or papers into position to be easily grasped by the hand; and the said lift comprising a plurality of wires having their ends bent around a bottom strand of said receptacle.

2. An open-top receptacle adapted to hold letters, papers and the like, said receptacle consisting of wire strands woven into basket form; and a swinging lift adapted normally to rest flatwise upon the bottom ofsaid receptacle, so as to permit the letters or papers to be deposited in the receptacle in the usual manner, said lift being provided at its distal end with a handle portion adapted to project upwardly and extend over the side of said receptacle; and the said lift comprising a plurality of wires having their ends bent around a bottom strand of said receptacle.

3. A receptacle adapted to hold letters, papers and the like, said receptacle consisting of wire strands woven into basket form; and a lift adapted in its normal position to permit the letters, papers and the like to be deposited in the receptacle in the usual manner, said lift being adapted to be operated at will to raise the letters, papers and the like into position to be easily grasped by the hand; and the said lift comprising a plurality of wires having their ends bent around a bottom strand of said receptacle.

4. An open-top receptacle adapted to hold letters, papers and the like, said receptacle consisting of wire strands woven into basket form; and a swinging lift provided with a handle portion adapted to engage a portion of the receptacle for the purpose of holding the lift flatwise upon the bottom of the latter while the letters or papers are being deposited therein, said lift when thus held in place being maintained under suilicient spring tension to cause it to automatically lift the letters or papers when said handle portion is disengaged; and the said lift comprising a plurality of wires having their ends bent around a bottom strand of said receptacle.

Signed by me at Lafayette, 'llippecanoe county, Indiana, this 19th day of January, 1903.

FRANK M. CARY.

Vitnesses as to Gary:

MARY B. Kmlrmc, ADDA O. THOMPSON. Signed by me at Chicago, Cook county, Illinois, this 17th day of January, 1W3.

(fEOIfl-llt K. hlX. lVitnesses as to Rix:

IIARRY I. BAUMoAn'rmcn, ARTHUR F. DURAND. 

